Choosing a theme for blog sites can be a daunting task, as there are an unimaginably large number out there.

You do have a few decisions to make before you even begin your search, however.

For example, do you want a two-column blog or a three-column blog, and where do you want the sidebar(s) - left, right, or on both sides?

Or maybe you don't want a sidebar at all - maybe you're looking for a blog theme that emulates a sales page?

Then, you can choose whether you want an informal blog theme, or maybe one of the many WP magazine themes, which have a very specific look.

Or perhaps you need a specialised theme, such as one designed for photographers to show off their work?

Next, you have to decide whether to go with a free theme, and these are a mixed bag, to say the least, or whether to buy one.

The one thing you definitely don't want to do is to leave your blog with the default WP theme - not only is it very plain-wrap, but it also gives the impression that you don't really care about your blog either.

One good place to start if you want to go down the free theme route is the WordPress site itself - but do bear in mind that this is also the first recourse for many other bloggers too.

If you want to look further afield, then Google will turn up a load of sites offering free themes, and some of these are pretty good, in our experience.

But if you want your blog to stand out from the crowd, then in our opinion, you're much better off going for a paid theme, the reason being that most bloggers won't do this, so there will be a lot fewer blogs out there using whichever theme you end up choosing.

One option is to go for a theme from one of the larger sites specializing in website and blog templates, such as Template Monster, but what we prefer to do is to find an independent designer.

We've spent many hours searching for good themes for some of our blogs, and the best collection of paid themes we've found so far is from Nick Roach, who runs Elegant Themes:

All of his WP blog themes are real works of art, they look professional, he has several different styles, including at least one WP magazine theme, one or two for photographers, one designed to present videos, as well as many others.

He currently has over 30 themes in his collection, and as for the cost, he charges a very reasonable annual membership fee of just $19.95 USD for unlimited use of any or all of them, including any he adds after you join.

Many of Nick's themes offer a control panel to set the various features offered, including a choice of different colour schemes, they are kept compatible with the latest releases of WordPress, and they are designed to work on all major Internet Browsers.

For a measly $20 USD a year, we really don't think you can beat the sheer quality and professionalism of these themes, so head on over to Elegant Themes and check them out - you can preview all of them, and get a list of the features each supports. We know you won't be disappointed!

(Hint: if you want to make them stand out even more, and you don't mind doing a bit of tweaking of the themes, why not use one of Jay Santos' stunning Explosive Instant Headers on your new blog too, such as this one, which is just one of the 100 website and blog headers in this collection?)